science

Oink! (video game)

Oink! (video game) is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Oink! (video game) rather than just read about it. In short: Oink! is an Atari 2600 video game designed by Mike Lorenzen and released by Activision in 1983. Oink! is inspired by the fairy tale "The Three Little Pigs" and casts the player as a pig defending his home from a wolf who wants to destroy it.

Key takeaways

Oink! (video game) belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Oink! (video game) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Oink! (video game) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Oink! is an Atari 2600 video game designed by Mike Lorenzen and released by Activision in 1983. Oink! is inspired by the fairy tale "The Three Little Pigs" and casts the player as a pig defending his home from a wolf who wants to destroy it.

Gameplay

Three pigs, each with their own house, find themselves being attacked by the nefarious Bigelow B. Wolf (B. B. Wolf, for short). The wolf tries to break through the three-layer-deep wall of the pigs' homes by blowing away pieces of the wall. Simultaneously, the pig must collect patches from the top of the screen and drop them into holes in the wall at the bottom, thus protecting the pig from the wolf's breath. If the pig gets hit by the wolf's breath, he will be stunned and start to fall out of the house. A life will be lost if the hole in the wall is large enough for the pig to fall through. The wall in the first house is yellow, representing the straw used to build the first little pig's house. Similarly, the wall in the second house is brown, as the second little pig's house was made of sticks, and the wall in the final house is red, since the third pig's house was made of bricks. The player scores four points for each patch applied to the wall. When all the patches are used, a new row of patches appears, and the wolf's attacks speed up. Each time a new row appears, the point value for the patches multiplies. For example, each patch from the third row would be worth twelve points. Oink! has a total of three gameplay variations. The first game is for one player, and the remaining two are for two players. The second game has the two players alternating playing the role of the pigs. In the third game, one player plays the pigs while the other player controls the wolf. When the wolf is successful in catching a pig, the roles alternate, such that both players assume each role three times. In this variation, the player can only score points when playing as the pigs.

Patch During the game's original release, players who scored over 25,000 points could photograph their scores on their TV screens and send the pictures to Activision in exchange for an "Oinkers" patch.

Reception Oink! received the "Most Humorous Video Game/Computer Game" award at the 5th annual Arkie Awards in 1984.

Legacy Oink! is included in the Activision Anthology collection.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Oink! (video game)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Oink! (video game) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Oink! (video game) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Oink! (video game) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Oink! (video game)

In research: Oink! (video game) appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Oink! (video game) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Oink! (video game) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1983 video games, Action games, Activision games, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Oink! (video game) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Oink! (video game) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Oink! (video game) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Oink! (video game) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Oink! (video game) in simple terms?

Why does Oink! (video game) matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Oink! (video game)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Oink! (video game).